1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to carbonators for use with beverage dispensing equipment, and more particularly, to integral carbonators submerged in the cold water bath or ice bin of such beverage dispensers.
2. Background of the Invention
Carbonators are well known in the art, and provide for combining water and carbon dioxide for the production of carbonated water. Such carbonators are typically used in beverage dispensing devices wherein the carbonated water they produce is combined in a post-mix beverage dispensing valve with a syrup for production of a carbonated beverage. Beverage dispensing machines generally provide for cooling of the liquid drink constituents through the use of a cold plate cooled by a volume of ice, or mechanically by a refrigeration system including an evaporator submerged in a water bath around which evaporator a bank of ice is formed. Heretofore, it has been known to submerge the carbonator either in the liquid water bath of a ice bank type machine or placed in the ice bin of a cold plate device. A draw back with the use of the carbonator within an ice bin or cold water bath concerns the volume of such interior space devoted to the carbonator. Since carbonators are pressurized to provide for the carbonating of the water, they are typically a cylindrical pressure vessel. As a result thereof, the carbonator can significantly detract from the size of the ice bank or the volume of ice held in the particular beverage dispenser.
A further problem in beverage dispensing, indirectly related to carbonators, concerns what is referred to in the industry as a "casually drawn" drink. If a beverage valve is not used for a period of time to dispense a drink, the carbonated water existing in the line connecting the valve to the carbonator can become warmed. Thus, the first drink drawn from such a valve, after a lapse of time, can be unacceptably warm due to the heating of the carbonated water.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a beverage dispensing device that provides for a carbonating strategy that provides for a space efficient carbonator, and that greatly reduces the problem of warm casually drawn drinks.